About Us | Arts For Life Utah

The Utah Arts Education Partners

A unified voice for arts education across the state of Utah

Leaders from the participating organizations gather January 2026 to propel shared values.

Back: Rachel Hafen (UDEO), Erinne Roundy (UAEA), Emily Mattinson (UMEA), Jonathan Hale (UMEA), James Huston (BAP), Lance Major (UMEA), Mitch Hall (UMEA),

Middle: Reilly Jensen (UAM) Kelly Bruce Glynn, (UVU) Georgianna Simpson (UAEA) Lisa Cluff ( Friends of BTS Arts),

Front: Christine Wolf (UMEA), Anna Davis (UAEA) Cally Flox (BAP)

Not pictured: Shanda Stenger (USBE), Penny Caywood (UACCT), Kori Wakamatsu (UDEO)

Leadership

The Utah Arts Education Partners (UAEP) is a partnership between professional arts education organizations in Utah. Created to strengthen the voice for arts education in schools, the Utah Art Education Association (UAEA), Utah Music Educators Association (UMEA), Utah Dance Education Association (UDEO), and Utah Advisory Council of Theatre Teachers (UACTT) have banded together to be a collective voice of advocacy for arts education and to launch the Arts for Life Utah and Crescendo initiatives. Collaborators include representatives from the Utah Division of Arts and Museum and the Utah State Board of Education. BYU Arts Partnership provides backbone support, with additional funding from Art Works for Kids.

OUR STORY

In 2018 the presidents of UAEA, UDEO, UMEA, and UACTT were invited by the BYU ARTS Partnership to collaborate on and contribute to the production of an arts advocacy resource for public school administrators and arts educators. Each president worked with their board and organization to create materials for “Building an Arts-Rich School." Each organization provided the following resources for their respective art form:

indicators of a quality educational arts program
logistical considerations to support arts programs
tips and considerations for hiring highly qualified arts educators
strategies for supporting arts educators through professional development
clarifications on the differences between competition and adjudication

As the organization presidents and the BYU ARTS Partnership worked on "Building an Arts-Rich School," they witnessed the strength of their shared collaboration. Determined to keep the momentum going, they created the Utah Arts Education Partners. Together, the presidents of these organizations determined the mission of the Utah Arts Education Partners would include two purposes: to be a collective voice of advocacy for arts education and to launch the Arts for Life initiative. In 2026, the Crescendo campaign was launched to amplify arts advocacy with resources and information for teachers.

OUR COMMITMENT

Each of the founding members committed to attend one another's professional development conferences and participate in a panel discussion on the Arts for Life Utah initiative. Each conference, and the Learning Edge Conference for Administrators, received a full panel of four representatives. The BYU ARTS Partnership director moderated a panel of the respective presidents. Each session was fruitful and received with enthusiasm. The M'art'ch Madness competition was introduced and is promoted each year at the professional arts education conferences in Utah.

As presidents of each organization have passed their title to incoming leadership within their organization, new members have joined the leadership of the Utah Arts Education Partners, including advocacy chairs. Each organization is committed to meeting bi-annually and advertising the Crescendo and Arts for Life Utah initiatives on its websites and social media as well as contributing to the maintenance of this website.